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¶ 1. General Situation The inland African nation of Chad includes three climatic zones with different peoples and cultures. In the wastes of the North live nomads with their herds. In the Sahel, once the home of important kingdoms, nomads and herders live together. The South is the home of peasants, joined in clans. The dominant people here are the Sara, who show openness to modern development. The complex history of Chad reaches back to the sixth century. From 1900 to 1960 it was under French rule (Colonialism). From 1965 onward, various ethnic groups fought f…

Since 1997 Zaire has been named the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Its capital is Kinshasa, a city of 7–8 million people (2006) and a major port on the Congo River. The country, commonly called Congo-Kinshasa, should not be confused with Republic of the Congo, or Congo-Brazzaville. 1. General Situation 1.1. The DRC is one of the largest countries in Africa (third in area, fourth in population). The vast majority of the population are Bantu peoples. Smaller numbers belong to Sudanese, Nilotic, and Hamitic ethnic groups in the north and east…

1. General Situation The Central African Republic, a landlocked country, has French as its official language, with Sango a trade language spoken by most of the population. Other main languages correspond to the country’s various ethnic groups; the largest are Baya, Banda, and Mandja. After the French gained control of the area in the late 19th century, the region was called Ubangi-Shari; later the area was incorporated into the Afrique Équatoriale Française (Colonialism). On August 13, 1960, it gai…